‘The Beast’ Asteroid Set to Pass Earth on June 8th

On Sunday, June 8th, an asteroid nicknamed “The Beast” will approach uncomfortably close to the Earth – 3.25 times the distance between the Earth and the moon, to be exact.

The passing is uncomfortable for a couple of reasons: 1) Any space object nicknamed “The Beast” should be fear inducing no matter how close it is; and 2) The massive asteroid was only detected six weeks ago, much too late for NASA or any other agency to have diverted the path of such an asteroid if it was on a collision course with Earth.

The asteroid, officially named 2014 HQ124, lives up to its nickname when one looks at the numbers behind the story.

“The Beast” measures in at 1,100 feet (335 meters) in diameter – similar in size to a movie theater, football stadium, or a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Currently, the asteroid is hurtling through space at a speed of 31,000 mph. If it was to enter Earth’s gravitational field, its speed would increase to 40,000 mph by the time of impact.

Asteroid impact expert Mark Boslough, of Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, shed some light on how devastating an asteroid of such proportions and traveling at such high speeds would be to the Earth:

What’s disconcerting is that a rocky/metallic body this large, and coming so very close, should have only first been discovered this soon before its nearest approach. HQ124 is at least 10 times bigger, and possibly 20 times, than the asteroid that injured a thousand people last year in Chelyabinsk, Siberia… If it were to impact us, the energy released would be measured not in kilotons like the atomic bombs that ended World War II, but in H-bomb type megatons… You’d end up with a crater about 3 miles across. An event like that would break windows over 100 kilometers away.

To add some further perspective, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima exploded with 15 kilotons of force, while “The Beast” would impact the Earth with a 2,000 megaton explosion. (1,000 kilotons equals 1 megaton.)

If that news wasn’t disconcerting enough, NASA officials estimate that only 30 percent of the estimated 15,000 near-Earth asteroids measuring 460 feet in diameter have been discovered, while less than one percent of those measuring in with a diameter of 100 feet have been found.

Went and watched this, don’t you think it is kind of weird that none of this is reported on the big news stations? Do you think that the govts. know what is up and thinking that if it were to come out to the public that it would cause global wide unrest. People need to read the King James version of the bible, because it sounds like the breaking of the seven seals to me. I don’t really believe we have very much more time on this planet.

Drew L

Dramatic much? This isn’t ‘end times’, that’s been used so many time in the past, and it is never true. I think the reason it’s not on the news is because it’s not really news. It’s like saying “A truck almost collided with a car today, but luckily, it safely stayed 100 feet away.”

Not really news worthy

Peter Reyland

Has anyone realizes there has been a lot of reports of Mysterious
Booms in the past 3 years, with some attributed as meteor explosions? #MysteryBoom on u-tube.

yeah its me again,we’ll be fine this thing destiny is not our world ender YET,but surely its out waiting,watch and might have devices on this thing to do just that to seen what our world is up to,sure been a lota asteroid fly bys just this year alone.i figure it 86 thousand diameter and will fly twix us and moon abouts sept-oct 15.

Pallas89

Fukushima Daiichi is a much bigger and more definite, ongoing cataclysm with no end and only the end in site. Study it.

bobblumenfeld

“If it was to enter Earth’s gravitational field, its speed would increase to 40,000 mph by the time of impact.”

Scientific note: Gravitational fields don’t stop at some point in space. Earth’s gravitational field, like all others, extends throughout the entire universe.

Drew L

Yes, but it intensifies as you get closer to the source. The earth’s pull from one million light years away is nowhere near the pull it has from one mile away.

Kallia Moon

what is the Source?

granpaw

The source would be common sense.

Drew L

The source would be the earth.

bobblumenfeld

But there’s no “entry point” as the article implies. It’s easy for the scientifically naive to believe there’s a point where it starts and stops. No science article should foster that misconception.

I remember, many years ago, reading about a question asked of a batch of college students: Is there gravity on the Moon?

Some answered, “No.”

“Why, then don’t the astronauts float away?” (You can tell roughly when this took place.)

“Well, because they wear heavy boots.”

That ignorance of gravity is what I’m worried about.

Drew L

True, but the pull would intensify the closer the object got to earth, like a piece of steel getting closer to a magnet. No specific entry point, just gradually increasing pull.

bobblumenfeld

Drew: I know that. You know that. Most of the readers here probably know that. The author may or may not know that. All that being said, it’s too possible that some readers do NOT know that, and the author did them a disservice by claiming there’s a point where the asteroid could “enter Earth’s gravitational field.”

That’s what irritates me.

‘Nuff said.

Drew L

True, but have heard that phrase so many times I have to wonder if there’s a point that is considered ‘entering earth’s gravitational field’.

Is it when the gravity effects trajectory to a certain degree? What degree? I’ve tried looking this up, but can’t find much on this topic.

bobblumenfeld

I suspect you can’t find much on it because it’s “rubber-sheet science.” I doubt any real scientist would use the phrase, but it’s one of those things that non-scientists use to dumb down — I mean, SIMPLIFY things for their audiences.

One of the reasons everything in the universe doesn’t fall directly onto the earth is because everything in the universe is also moving, and that momentum usually carries it past (if it’s close enough for “past” to have meaning) before it ever gets a chance to “fall” in.

The point where an object would be drawn into a collision course with earth depends on its mass and its velocity (its speed and course), which combine to define its momentum.

And those variables preclude there being any unique “entry point” in the gravitational field. Two objects could pass through the same point in space relative to the earth but, depending on their masses and velocities, one could crash while the other passes by harmlessly.

John Ikarus

On Sunday, June 8th, an asteroid nicknamed “The Kardashian” Assteroid

Set to Pass Earth on June 8th

Drew L

No thanks, I’ve had to see too many Kardashian asses in my life. I don’t want to see no more!!

Edwin

We are all lucky human beans lol earth’s methane blue sky will reject any meteorite from entering inside earth … Earth spins from east to west and that’s dee only option any mediorite will enter earth methane blue sky , from east to west just like the space shuttle enter earth any other direction it will bounce off from earth’s methane blue sky and even in the dark night sky it will bounce off., and in mars it will enter in any direction from south to north and from west to east in any direction mars is a doom planet., and solar flairs from the sun to mars inside mars temperature will increase by 72% for 40 minutes the heat will drop down to the surface of mars ….

granpaw

You are probably right, Edwin. Good thinking.

Hartcore1

How can anyone argue with that logic? You must be right.

Smokem

I would ask you what color the sky is in your world Edwin, but it seems to be, METHANE BLUE! lol.

Radarider

With any luck it might impact somewhere between K street and Constitution Ave…

FreightTrain

let it hit the UN !! aint nothing but a bunch of worthless pukes anyway!

dennis

To bad this thing couldnt hit the White House

Hartcore1

No thanks. They’d spend 1 trillion dollars to rebuild it.

Ted Vogel

and the smell , oh my god ,the smell of all that burning shit ,we’d never get rid of that smell ….lol

OhioGene

Not as worried about this pass as when it will return…

Jerry

screw it, I will be having a beer, join me ??

the truth shall be told

It depends on it core materal ,The earth can be like a magnet to it .
It is basic chemistry make up of elements and the laws of gravity .
Plus it may be new material.
So if it hits ,you see massive earth Quake on this planet. Our Gov yo worried about playing war Games all the time.
twenty plus years of waring ,when are they going to work at creating peace.

OhioGene

Its orbital incident has altered gradually. When spotted its orbit would have placed it 4.6 LD at close approach. Now its orbital incident (relative Earth) is 3.3 LD at close approach. You are right (in part), Earth/moon gravity has altered its orbital vectors (relative the local stellar mass).

Girln2nascar

Would we be able to see the passing asteroid with our naked eyes as it passes earth?

OhioGene

I have not clue what order of magnitude it is… I use the tools of man to see such things. Haven’t used a small telescope in decades. Man has some outstanding tools in this day. One can see most known things simply by accessing the proper web site.

Brenda Gilbert

Peace what’s that, there will never be peace until mankind takes it head out of it’s ass and realizes that we were given freedom of choice in all matters. Either way we all should just bend over and grab our ankles and except the screwing we are going to get, because we have done everything all wrong.

Erock

Better get that mars trip ready because trying to save our selves here if near usless I guess

digger

Can we use the coyote move like they did last time.

Rick Lile

If it did, the crater would be 15X the size of the asteroid or about 16,000 feet (3 miles) across,

Bubba4Obama

The “Mountain” surprised us all last Sunday, now the “Beast” this Sunday – what’s next?

Scott Griswold

Just wait until the Bugs start flinging asteroids at our planet

Jordi

I take this any day of the week. I don’t want a crazy ass North Korean or even worse..a stupid Russian to end this planet. Who the hell needs these people on the face of the earth? F*** ’em all (North Koreans and Russians)

Inquisitionfire

Well that is one way to reduce population and slow global warming at the same time.

Jessica Lynn Gragg

Let it hit us, just don’t let my husband survive!

Shagman6969

No more nothing!

KashifAshfaq

Another terrorist plan by Muslims ?????

Michael Thomas

Wake me up when one is going to hit. It don’t mater if NASA or the army of amateurs find one that has our name on it. We don’t have the technology in place to stop it.

dr knght

now they come. fly-bys with increase frequencies often avoiding immediate terrestrial detection. quite enigmatic from out of nowhere.. problem at the current rate includes lack of technical capabilities in averting or at least minimizing impacts. clock ticking prior to a probable really close encounters in 7 +/- 3 years.. hope to consolidate everything by then. good luck knght.

Jamblik Bartlowitz

Hey where did that thing go, bring it back, let it crash.

Cezar

OK, we see often similar news, but what we human do that time? I suspect, we are too impassive. I think, we human have enough knowledge and technologies to prevent similar danger and we should do something…

Robert A Anderson

I am not afraid of the “beast” but we should all beware of the monster that sits and watches. All of these names for things Godzilla of planets, beast asteroid, etc. Who are these people that give names to things to invoke fear. There was a story not long ago about land hurricanes which was really nothing more than some severe thunderstorms. Listen closely to the subliminal messages of fear being spread by news reports, politicians, and the christians. They want you to be afraid of the wind the rain and outer space. And don’t forget god.

Pirinno

To these people who are creating a bunch of terrified low information readers do not believe in God.

Geronimo

Hope it doesn’t get bumped and have its path changed suddenly.

Pirinno

Funny how they can find this 100’s of thousands of miles away but somehow we can’t find all the illegal aliens within the US borders.

Kevin Bethke

I gave up hard alcohol years ago. Time to buy a bottle., A hooker, ounce of grass, 2 lobster tails, and some comfy bear slippers.

http://about.me/zztwp1/ zztwp

too bad it cant go up Obama’s ass ! kill tow birds with one stone ? Nah ! if we should be so lucky !

Nate Rector

wish it would hit North Korea,or Iran

r2w

even if it was gonna hit us, the government won’t say, they trying to reduce the population, the remaining people will be easier to control…just food for thought!

Samuel Morton

The fact that it was only spotted 6 weeks ago, is what scares me! Is it a funding problem or a weird vector that hid its’ trajectory?

Machikoneko

Will the rapture begin soon? My hubby and I both need new cars.

It would be greatly appreciated if you’d leave your keys in them, if you expect to go up to see the sky god.
…we promise to take care of any animals you left behind.

SANDYMAN

in planetary term this thing will damn near nick us

mythicknessasinmydick

if this hits ANYWHERE on earth… screwed city comes to mind and we are its residents…….

mary k. durbin

noticed no time or place the Beast will be passing by.

Osha Robinson

People need to see that we won’t be told anything unless God shows us! Keep your minds on Jesus and if you aren’t saved give your life to Him for protection…

tlmmrm

It will be influenced by Earth and if it were to actually get caught by the earth’s gravitation that does not mean it would hit earth. It would be doubtful if it did. The moon is in earth orbit and it won’t hit the Earth, at least not in the next eon. There is a third stage of one of the Moon Rockets (Saturn V) that is in orbit around the earth farther away than the moon.

Whitefawk

They better get on the ball, learning about it only 6 weeks, that’s cutting it close, wake up NASA, a tiny rock could end it all, what are they waiting, for a bigger one?

coco

Last year the big one passed by but, no one expected the Siberian ones to hit on the other side of the Earth the same day! So In a short time, science really has worked out the universe and stuff , not!
Maybe the “space debris” up “there” would do more damage if it fell down?